The Mississippi Department of Revenue’s (MDR) April report on sales tax diversions to cities is a mixed bag.
Municipalities receive back 18.5% of the 7% state tax collected on retail sales within their boundaries.
The latest figures are based on March merchant collections reported to the state in April and shared with municipalities in May.
While the COVID-19 pandemic was quickly spreading in March, Mississippi residents were not ordered to shelter-in-place until April 3.
Some local municipalities had imposed emergency regulations one week earlier, but March retail sales remained brisk while residents stocked up on essential items and made other purchases in anticipation of an anticipated statewide lockdown.
Some of the bleakest sales figures should be reflected in next month’s sales tax report.
Below are sales tax diversions to local municipalities based on March sales, followed by March 2019 figures.
» Charleston, $32,323.55, up 1.0% from $32,009.02
» Glendora, $233.47, down 44.7% from $421.95
» Oakland, $6,322.33, a drop of 19.4% from the $7,848.65 from the same period one year ago
» Sumner, $2,512.55, down 5.4% from $2,656.27
» Tutwiler, $6,208.05, an increase of 11.8% from last year’s figure of $5,553.64
» Webb, $6,461.69, up 8.6% from $5,947.36
